Superman Returns

If you don't already own this, well, you probably don't come to sites like this one.
This was my second favorite summer blockbuster this year, a close second only to Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest. Bryan Singer and the cast and crew of this movie did an excellent job in not only creating a new chapter in the already-established Superman-on-film continuity, but adding in a distinct flair of their own that brings it into the 21st century.

The story picks up after Superman II (the producers have decided to ignore that III and IV ever happened, to their benefit.) Superman has been gone from Earth for about five or six years, searching for the remnants of Krypton, which some astronomers believe they've found. The world went to Hell for a time, and eventually, people learned to live without Superman always being around. Lois Lane even wrote an editorial for the Daily Planet entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" for which she is nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. This is one of the first things Clark Kent sees when he returns to the Daily Planet, just one of the many things that go right for his heart in this movie. Not the least of which is Jason, Lois' son with Richard White, or so she believes. The child is eventually revealed to be Superman's son, conceived when Superman renounced his powers in II to create a normal life with Lois Lane, who also discovered his secret identity. As it would be, fate intervened, and Superman wiped Lois' memory with a super-kiss. Apparently, that's not good as a contraceptive, and the child came along, and everybody believes that Richard White is the father, and they're all happy and WASP-y living outisde Metropolis on the river.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor is out of prison, owing to Superman not making a court date because he's billions of miles away on a wild planet chase. He's swindled a dying widow and her family out of their fortune, Anna Nicole-style. He takes their awesome yacht on a search for Superman's Fortress of Solitude, which he was brought to in II, and had a good idea that all the information on how to defeat his enemy was here, but he finds something else along the way- the crystals that contain all this knowledge also have the capability to absorb any mineral around them and create something. The insane real estate agent (really, is there any other kind?) takes over, and he hatches a scheme to basically create a new continent off the eastern seaboard, which of course will move the ocean all the way west to the Rocky Mountains, killing millions and starving as many more. (So, if he kills everybody, who's left to buy his new land? But such is the logic of criminal minds.)

Yeah, I like this movie a lot. I don't need to type out the whole synopsis. It was worth the nearly twenty-year wait to get a new Superman movie. The special features on this disc include and are pretty much limited to a nearly three-hour documentary called Requiem for Krypton. It has to be the most in-depth, exhaustive, and entertaining behind-the-scenes doc I've ever seen. All of the crew is very enthusiastic, and you could tell that all involved had a love for Superman and for making a good movie even greater. Bryan Singer, the director, was especially spirited in the opening where he's rehearsing his pitch that he'll eventually give to Warner Brothers in order to get hired for the project. This was in July of 2004, so it goes back quite a way. And it also details how Brandon Routh was cast in the role of Superman/Clark Kent, which is a neat thing to see.

Also included are the trailers and a little featurette on a computer model of Marlon Brando's Jor-El, which was filmed nearly thirty years ago. When they needed new dialogue from Jor-El and didn't have it, they created this model and while I'm not sure where they got the voice from, it's really interesting to see how all that computer modeling stuff is done, and it illustrates why these genre films take so long to make.

I've watched the movie three times since I bought the disc. Seeing those opening credits with John Williams' theme and Superman's plane chase is exhilirating. If you're going to buy it, I'd recommend getting the two-disc version pictured above. It costs more, but if you like behind-the-scenes documentaries, you'll love this one and it's only on this version. It's worth the money. I bought the super-nice Best Buy exclusive version that came with an excerpted and miniaturized version of DK Books' Superman: The Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel, which is about $30 now that it's not on sale, but if you're not a big Supes fan, you don't need that, and if you are, you probably have it.